Handle attachment for bowling-balls.



No. 812,214. PATENTED FEB. 13, 1906.

S. H. LAW, H. O. LAW & S. H. LAW. JR. HANDLE ATTACHMENT FOR BOWLINGBALLS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.18, 1905.

Samuel lifiaw, .Harrison 0. Law, ISamueZ H.Z/ZZO,J7.,

UNITED ST PATENT OFFICE,

SAMUEL H. LAW, HARRISON O. LAW, AND SAMUEL H. LA\V, JR, OF NEW YORK, N.Y.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1906.

Application filed pril 18, 1905. Serial No. 256,330-

To a whont it may concern.-

Be it known that we, SAMUEL H. LAW, HARRISON O. LAW, and SAMUEL H. LAW,Jr., citizens of the United States, residing at New York, Brooklyn, inthe county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Handle Attachments for Bowling-Balls, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention relates to an attachment for bowling-balls for affording abetter means of handling and carrying a ball than is afforded by thefinger-holes with which such balls are usually provided.

Expert tenpin-players usually own the ball with which they play andcarry it from place to place; and the object of our invention is toprovide a convenient handle which may be easily and readily secured to aball for carrying purposes and so locked thereto as to prevent the ballfrom being used by other than the owner or holder of the locking-key.

Our invention consists in a handle having a laterallyexpansible shankrotatably secured thereto and adapted to enter one of the finger-socketsin a bowling-ball and frictionally engage with the walls thereof, andmeans whereby said shank may be expanded or contracted by rotating orturning the handle and shank with reference to each other.

Our invention also consists in means for locking the handle and shankagainst relative movement to prevent the device after being secured to aball from being detached therefrom, so as to prevent the ball from beingused by others than the owner.

It also consists in features of construction which will be hereinafterdescribed, and particularly pointed out in the claims hereunto annexed.

Referring to the drawings furnished and forming a part of thisspecification, Figure 1 illustrates a device embodying our invention,the same being shown partly in section and partly in side elevation.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device secured to a bowlingball, -aportion of the latter being shown in section, and Fig. 3 illustrates theseveral parts of the device separated from each other.

The handle portion of the device com opposite ends of the handle-pieceAby screws a a. The bolt or shaft 0 is fixedly secured to the yoke andprojects centrally therefrom to afford proper support for thelaterally-expansible shank D, mounted thereon between the yoke and anexpanding-nut c, the latter being screwed on the end of the shaft, sothat it may travel up and down thereon for causing the shank to expandor contract, as required.

The shank D is preferably made of brass or other metal having requisiteelasticity and is in the form of a short section of tubing having adiameter slightly less than the diameter of the finger-holes usuallyprovided in bowling balls. The lower end of the tube or shank is open toreceive the expanding-nut c, the latter being tapered or conical, asshown, and having its largest diameter greater than the interiordiameter and equal to or slightly less than the exterior diameter of theshank. The shank is split, as at d, to permit of an expansion of itslower end by an upward movement of the expandingnut c, the tapered wallof the latter being adapted to cause an expansion of the shank by anupward movement of the nut. The upper end of the shank is partiallyclosed by a plate d secured thereto and projecting laterally therefromand having at its projecting end a turneddown portion affording afinger-piece d by means of which the shank may be held stationary whilethe handle is turned, as will be hereinafter described.

When the parts thus far described are properly assembled, the nut c isin frictional engagement with the lower inner edge of the shank D, andas the shank and handle are rotatively connected together a rotation ofeither While the other is held stationary will cause the nut c to moveon the shaft C. When the handle is to be used, the shank is contractedto permit it to enter the socket or finger-hole e in a bowling-ball E.The shank D is then held, by means of the finger-piece (i while thehandle portion is rotated in the direction for expanding the shank, sothat the latter will engage the walls of the socket or finger-hole withsufficient friction to securely hold the ball and handle together.

To prevent the ball from being used by others than the owner, we providemeans for locking the shank and handle portion of the device againstindependent rotation. For this purpose we provide a spring arm or strapF, which is secured at one end to the handle-piece A between saidhandle-piece and the end of the yoke B, a screw a, serving to secureboth the strap and yoke to the handle-piece. This strap Fis shaped toconform to the shape of the yoke and to lie close to the inner surfacethereof. Its free end is provided with a perforated lug f, whichprojects through a slot 10 f in the yoke to receive the link of thepadlock G, by means of which the strap and yoke are locked together. Theupper end of the shank D is provided with one or more holes 7L (throughthe plate (1 in proper position to register with a hole h in the yoke B,and the strap F is provided with a pin i, which passes through the holeh in the yoke and through one of the holes h in the shank D, the handleportion and shank being thus held against independent rotation and thepin i being held in its locking position by means of the padlock G, aswill be readily understood. When the device is to be attached to ordetached from a ball, the strap F is lifted out of its locking position,as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the handleand shank being thenfree to beindependently rotated, as described.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A handle attachment for bowling-balls, comprising a handle portionand a laterallyexpansible shank portion rotatably secured together, saidshank being adapted to enter and frictionally engage the wall of asocket in a bowling ball, and means whereby said shank may be expandedor contracted by independently rotating said handle or shank.

2. A handle attachment for bowling-balls, comprising a handle portionand a laterallyexpansible shank rotatably secured thereto, said shankbeing adapted to enter a socket in a bowling-ball and frictionallyengage the walls thereof, means operated by the rotation of the handlefor expanding said shank, and a finger-piece projecting laterally fromthe upper end of said shank.

3. A handle attachment for bowling-balls, comprising a handle portionhaving a screwthreaded shaft or bolt projecting therefrom, a tubularshank rotatably mounted on said shaft, said shank being split at one endto permit of lateral expansion and contraction, and a conical nut onsaid shaft having its conical surface in contact with the split end ofsaid shank, whereby independent rotation of said handle portion or shankwill cause said shank to expand or contract.

4. A handle attachment for bowling-balls, comprising a handle portionand a laterallyexpansible shank rotatably secured together, meanswhereby said shank will be expanded by independent rotation of saidhandle or shank, and means for locking said handle and shank againstindependent rotation.

5. In a handle attachment for bowlingballs, a handle-piece, a yokesecured to the ends thereof, a screw-threaded shaft fixedly secured tosaid yoke having a conical nut mounted thereon, a tubular shank mountedon said shaft between said yoke and said nut, said shank being split topermit of expansion by said nut, a spring-arm mounted on the handleportion of the attachment, a pin carried by said arm adapted to engagesaid yoke and said shank for preventing independent rotation thereof,and means for locking said strap and said yoke together.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

. SAMUEL H. LAW.

HARRISON o. LAW; SAMUEL H. LAW, JR.

Witnesses:

CHAs. M. THoMPsoN, W. C. RIEFENSTAHL.

